LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX–AND YOGA
REVIEW: Sex, Love and Yoga
By Ryan M. Luévano
Sex therapy’s in session at the MACHA Theatre in West Hollywood where the new musical Sex, Love & Yoga (SLY) is being produced. This musical mixes Kundalini yoga with sex therapy to touch upon various sexual issues that affect many people. The main character of the show is based on the life sexologist Dr. Stephanie Torres who produced and conceived this show. Additionally, SLY is completely produced and created by women, a rarity in the theater community that hopefully in time will become less of an anomaly as it yields results that are fresh and intriguing.
Casey Hayden, left and Espiridion Magana.
SLY is billed as “A Provocative New Musical” and although it is ‘provocative’, upon execution it doesn’t feel like a musical. So what is it? I would say it’s a musical-play of sorts. The show is a play with songs dispersed throughout; the music takes a back seat. For a modern show like this one the songs don’t spring from the drama itself, but rather traditional lead-ins that in turn actually cheapen and confuse the musical moment. SLY wants to be a musical—so condense the dialogue and let the music shine.
Kate Sullvan Gibbens is the auteur of this show as she undertook a heavy task of writing the book, music, lyrics and even directing this production. With so many aspects to juggle a few are bound to slip. SLY tries to accomplish too much—it’s telling a true story, it’s giving sex therapy, it’s including Kundalini yoga practices, and it’s trying to present the lives of characters that we’re supposed to care about. The book has potential but needs focus particularly in the long and slow-moving first act.
Kristin Towers-Rowles, left and Casey Hayden.
The score, which includes pop, rock, folk, and blues, on the other hand is enjoyable and is most effective when it comes out of moments that are natural to the drama. Some of the favorite songs include, “Sat Nam,” “Good Girls Don’t,” “Yes/No/Maybe,” and “Mirror Exercise.” Yet just like the book the music too needs some focus, direction, and trimming (starting with “Laundry” which although charming, a soft-shoe number is out of place).
The seven-person diverse cast of SLY provides a beautiful assortment of voices and personalities. Kim Reed who plays the main character sexologist Beverly successfully performs the role, but throughout the show seems out of place performing on stage, her movements and acting style seem better suited for film or television. Furthermore, the songs written for Reed need to be adjusted down a step or two as her voice is constantly in struggle with the tessitura of her music. Jenny (Katherine Washington) is one of the most alluring voices while portraying the damaged and scared Jenny. Everything she sang was simply sweet and satisfying, especially “The Thing Is” and “The Rest of Me”. The most powerful voice in the show was Stephanie Anderson who filled the theatre with kinetic energy in the fullness of her voice, especially in “Ambrosia” and “Good Girls Don’t”.
WHAT ABOUT THE MUSIC DIRECTOR?
Kate Marley makes her L.A. artistic debut as music director of SLY and plays the keyboard for this production. Her performance of the new music by Gibbens is done expertly and with much style and finesse. The musical direction of the cast aims to be more precise in diction, style and direction. As is, the cast seems to be performing the material based on their own varied approaches.
The opening night of a new musical like this one is always a tricky situation because you are seeing the writers throw everything on stage for the first time; it’s not until later that they see what sticks and begin to make adjustments. I can only assume that writer/director Kate Gibbens will be making changes and weeks from now this show will grown into a better version of itself. However, even in the show’s current embryonic stage SLY has a lot of offer its audiences, even if it’s just opening the gates for discussions about sex.
Sex, Love & Yoga runs through August 30th at the MACHA Theatre in West Hollywood.
